Iowa group gets stranded after Kenya airport fire

MAQUOKETA – Students, teachers and parents from an eastern Iowa high school have been stranded in east Africa after a fire swelled into a roaring inferno at Kenya’s main airport and halted international flights.

The group of 26 from Maquoketa High School was in the area after completing a mission trip that helps build houses and hospitals.

Family members in Iowa say the group has been in contact with loved ones. The volunteer organization in Africa that worked with the group has made accommodations for them to stay an extra few days.

The group has been told the earliest they can travel out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi is Friday.

At one point the early Wednesday blaze closed the entire airport. It has since reopened for domestic and cargo flights.